In the ever-evolving world of SEO, staying ahead of the competition is vital for marijuana dispensaries. But what exactly is Google’s EEAT? What makes it so important? How can your dispensary tap into its power? Read on to understand!
What Is E-E-A-T?
EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. It forms a part of Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines (SQRG) and rates the quality and purpose of content that appears in Google searches.
EEAT determines what your target audience and Google are looking for quality content that provides value. E-A-T first emerged in 2014 and has become an important part of SEO today. When you combine expert SEO content to back EEAT, your website can boost its chances of achieving higher rankings and staying afloat with future Google algorithm updates.
What Does Experience in E-E-A-T Mean?
The E in E-E-A-T stands for Experience.
This parameter relates to the first-hand experience of someone who creates a piece of content. It could be product reviews on YouTube, an informative piece on a referral website, or case studies on a retailer’s website. The Experience parameter enables users to build trust in your products. According to the Search Quality Rater Guidelines, content that ranks higher on Google is often created by those who offer a wealth of personal experience. For your marijuana dispensary to build trust among its target customers as well as rank well on Google, it’s critical to leverage fans, customers, and influences to create testimonials, reviews, and videos.
What do other EEAT parameters mean?
Expertise – the second E in EEAT – refers to the knowledge a creator or a website has about a topic. This could be demonstrated using accreditations, work experience, and more. Authority in EEAT is all about the authoritativeness of a piece of content. Your authoritativeness increases based on how often your industry mentions your dispensary. It shoots up when you’re considered to be a thought leader in the marijuana dispensary industry. Trustworthiness in EEAT is accumulated over time through engagement, security, and support. For instance, if your website sells marijuana products online, its trustworthiness can be established by how secure your website is and how well your customer support manages your customers.
Why Is EEAT So Important?
Google prioritizes only the sites that demonstrate a high Google EEAT score. If your EEAT score is well above the rest of the competition, your rankings naturally increase. To create quality content that meets EEAT guidelines, it’s critical to address questions like:
- What is my target audience searching for?
- Will my potential have a good experience?
- Will my content provide value to them as well as answer their questions?
EEAT is the reason your target audience prefers your products over your competitors. With more customers flocking to your website, it automatically becomes easier to perform well in searches. Beyond boosting your search rankings, these parameters can act as a solid framework for building trust in your dispensary. Being seen as an authority automatically puts you ahead of the competition, incorporating experiences convinces your customers to invest in your products faster, and leveraging expertise and trust increases the value of your products.
Is E-E-A-T a Ranking Factor?
No, EEAT is not a direct ranking factor. However, your website will still need it to craft quality content that would have the potential to reckon the first page of Google’s search results. Why? because EEAT parameters still influence the search engine’s ranking algorithms.
Google’s August 2022 algorithm update was aimed to “better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn’t meet a visitor’s expectations won’t perform as well.”
In other words, if your dispensary’s content follows EEAT guidelines, you won’t have to change your SEO strategy every time Google rolls out a new update since your content aligns with the very foundations of Google’s reward system.
How to Improve Your Dispensary Site’s E-E-A-T
Here are eight quick steps to improve your dispensary’s EEAT:
- Develop high-quality backlinks. High-quality backlinks are one of the biggest indicators of how knowledgeable and authoritative your marijuana dispensary may be. The authoritativeness of your website will be recognized if other authority websites point to your business. Focus on the quality of backlinks rather than quantity.
- Analyze and update current content. Google Search Raters are always on the hunt for content that demonstrates expertise, skill, time, and effort. Revise your previous content to ensure it stays current and accurate. To build “experience,” don’t hesitate to showcase the author’s experience.
- Display testimonials and user reviews. Testimonials and reviews are a great way to build trust. Aside from targeting your customers, reach out to third-party sites for high-quality reviews.
- Work with experts. Update your website’s “About Us” page to include details of your expertise. Include the author’s details for every piece of content you post. Team with other well-known experts so your audience can consider you as one.
- Include author bios and other credentials. Author bios, the experience of your team, and business credentials are stepping stones toward building authoritativeness. Your business credentials should clearly state how long your dispensary has been in business, the awards it has won, why it does what it does, and which organizations it is a part of.
- Monitor your dispensary’s reputation. Google your dispensary to learn about its reputation. Look at sources like Yelp, and other review sites to determine what people are talking about your business. Craft strategies to address concerns your audience may have and take steps to build a positive reputation.
- Don’t entertain clickbait content. If you’re aiming to create EEAT-rich content, the last thing you want to do is tolerate clickbait content. Your website must always provide value to your target audience and offer effective solutions to their questions.
Strengthen E-E-A-T Outcomes with a Dependable SEO Specialist
Content that’s rich in EEAT requires a comprehensive, site-wide strategy. There’s no overnight hack for developing experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
When building your EEAT SEO and content game, it’s important to have a reliable SEO specialist by your side. Having assisted hundreds of marijuana dispensaries on their journey to success, Dispensary Growth can help you craft content and SEO strategies that will propel your dispensary toward consistent growth.
Remember, when ranking your site, Google considers both the big picture and smaller details. By ensuring you stay EEAT compliant through and through, Dispensary Growth can help you build a solid foundation that can outlast Google’s algorithm updates. Contact us today to discuss how to win at SEO!
